Crawley
Borough Council
Introduction
Crawley Borough Council is based in Sussex in south-east England and has 10,429 properties, which includes 8,141 LCRA properties. After completing a similar survey in 2023, Acuity has been commissioned to carry out surveys over two waves in 2024/25 to comply with the requirements of the Regulator of Social Housing. These surveys include LCRA tenants only and as both wave 1 and wave 2 are now completed, this report provides the annual results. Demographic breakdowns of the results are also included to give greater context to what drives satisfaction for Crawley Borough Council.
The survey was designed using the Tenant Satisfaction Measures, which became mandatory to collect from April 2023, were reported for the first-time in 2024, and are now required annually, and also included some open-ended questions which allow tenants to expand on reasons for dissatisfaction and to suggest improvements. The survey was carried out using telephone interviews but also allowed tenants to complete the survey online if they wished. After completion of both waves a total of 600 surveys have been completed plus a further 63 incomplete which are also required, by the Regulator, to be included in the results. Of these, 347 were completed online and 316 by telephone interview using Acuity's in-house telephone team.
The survey is confidential, and the results are sent back to Crawley Borough Council anonymised unless tenants give their permission to be identified; 63% of tenants did give permission to share their name and 90% of these are happy for Crawley Borough Council to contact them to discuss any issues they raised.
The aim of this survey is to provide data on tenants’ satisfaction, which will allow Crawley Borough Council to:
• Provide information on tenants’ perceptions of current services
• Compare the results against the survey completed last year
• Compare the results with other landlords (where appropriate at year end)
• Report to the Regulator from April 2024 onwards, from these annual results
For the LCRA results, the Regulator of Social Housing requires landlords with between 2,500 and 9,999 LCRA properties to achieve a sampling error of at least ±4% at the 95% confidence level. For Crawley Borough Council, 600 completed responses were received for the year, and this response is high enough to conclude that the findings are accurate to within +3.85% annually, so within the required margin.
The majority of figures throughout the report show the results as percentages. The percentages are rounded up or down from two decimal places in the results file to the nearest whole number, and for this reason, may not in all cases add up to 100%. Rounding can also cause percentages described in the supporting text to differ from the percentages in the charts by 1% when two percentages are added together. Base numbers are shown on the charts, where possible, as n=...
Overall Satisfaction
At the end of the year, almost threequarters of tenants (73%) are satisfied with the overall service provided by Crawley Borough Council.
Most measures receive satisfaction between 60% and 76%, with satisfaction with for the repairs service in the last 12 months scoring highest at 76%, closely followed by the time to complete repairs at 75%.
Just two measures fall below 60%; the approach to handling anti-social behaviour at 55%, whilst just 35% are satisfied with the handling of complaints.
The report focuses on the headline figures from the survey, but also at the end, includes a breakdown of these results into various subgroups to get a better understanding of what is driving satisfaction at Crawley Borough Council.
2024/25 TSM Key Metrics (LCRA)
Keeping Properties in Good Repair Respectful & Helpful Engagement
Responsible Neighbourhood Management
Annual Summary
At the end of the financial year, it is possible to look at the annual results to help understand what is driving satisfaction at Crawley Borough Council. These charts summarise the key results from 2024/25. This section, therefore, combines the results from the wave 1 and wave 2 surveys carried out during the year.
Sometimes where satisfaction is low, the remaining tenants can be split between those who fall into the neutral middle ground and those who are actually dissatisfied. This difference can signal areas where tenants do not have strong opinions or areas where a high percentage of tenants are actually dissatisfied.
For Crawley Borough Council, it generally follows that measures with high satisfaction also have low dissatisfaction, and vice versa.
In terms of dissatisfaction, this is generally below a quarter of tenants being dissatisfied with the range of service offered, with the exception of handling complaints, with 48% dissatisfied and just 35% satisfied.
Annual Satisfaction & Dissatisfaction
Satisfaction with Measures 2024/25
Dissatisfaction with Measures 2024/25
Key driver analysis is used to examine the relationship between the different variables (the questions asked in the survey) and determine which elements of the service are the key drivers for tenants’ overall satisfaction. Each landlord has its own unique pattern of influence.
When combining all the results for 2024/25, the most important driver for tenants’ satisfaction with the overall services is that they have a well-maintained home. Being treated fairly and with respect is the second most influential measure, with the repairs service in the last 12 months, safe home and listens and acts are also important but less influential.
The implication of this analysis is that if improvements around the most influential measures can be achieved, it is more likely to lead to increased satisfaction with the overall services provided.
Key Driver Analysis
Annual Key Driver Analysis – Overall Satisfaction
Measure of influence
All registered providers over 1,000 units were required to submit their TSM results for 2023/24 to the Regulator of Social Housing by the end of June 2024. The full set of results were then released later in the year, so it is possible to compare the results from Crawley Borough Council against these.
For five of the measures, Crawley Borough Council compare with the lower quartile, with six measures falling into quartile 3, and one, the Council’s contribution to the neighbourhood, in the second quartile.
The cohort of landlords used in this comparison vary in type, size and location, including smaller as well as larger housing associations and councils, and therefore not necessarily similar to Crawley Borough Council. However, the comparison helps to provide context to this survey’s results.
Benchmarking – TSM results 2023/24 (LCRA, All Landlords)
Given that Crawley Borough Council is a council landlord, it is appropriate to compare the results against other local authorities only, and this chart shows the differences against the quartile positions. The Council compares well against this group, with all but two measures either equal to or above the medians. One measure, the time taken for repairs, is in the upper quartile, with nine measures in the second quartile, with two measures in the third quartile.
These landlords will vary in size and location, so are not exactly comparable with Crawley Borough Council.
Benchmarking – TSM results 2023/24 (LCRA, All Councils)
Taking this one stage further, this final benchmarking comparison compares the results for Crawley Borough Council with other local authority landlords with under 10,000 units, so are similar in size.
Nine measures place above the median, with these same measures falling into the second quartile. Three measures, safe home, being kept informed and being treated fairly and with respect fall into the third quartile.
Benchmarking – TSM results 2023/24 (LCRA, Councils under 10,000 units )
When considering the results, the national context and external factors must also be taken into account.
For example:
•Ongoing cost of living crisis
•New government, political changes, and changing legislative landscape
•Uncertainty about the future
•Wider economic challenges
Satisfaction is based on perception rather than specific values so can be affected by these factors and how positive people feel about their lives. Factors such as the pandemic also altered the way social landlords operate, perhaps making them less accessible and responsive.
The top graph demonstrates how overall satisfaction has changed over time for Acuity’s clients (tracker only). The trendline is downward over the last few years. The lower chart shows the results from NHF members with a peak in 2015/16 and a slow decline since; this started even before the disruption caused by the pandemic.
National Context
(Acuity Clients)
Satisfaction with services provided (NHF median - general needs)
Wellbeing
Tenants were asked about the cost of living, and whether they struggle to meet the cost of certain expenses.
Tenants struggled the most with meeting the cost of utility/fuel bills, followed closely by meeting the cost of other household bills. Paying rent or services charges was of less concern to tenants; although 14% of tenants are still struggled to meet these bills.
In addition to those currently struggling between 10% and 25% are worried about the future.
It is common that those struggling financially are often less satisfied with their housing services than those not, and this does appear to be the case here. On the overall service, 70% of those struggling are satisfied compared with 82% of those not struggling and this pattern continues across the range of measures, although the differences on some are quite small.
This does suggest that any help the Council can provide such as budgeting advice or help with benefits can not only improve tenants' circumstances but could lead to higher satisfaction.
Cost of Living
Cost of Living Concern
Cost of Living Concern & Satisfaction
Further Insight
Comments - Well Maintained & Safe & Overall
Day-to-day repairsOutstanding / forgotten
Property condition - Damp & mould
Home improvementsNew doors or windows
Day-to-day repairsQuality of work Property conditionCondition of the property
Day-to-day repairsTimescales to complete
Property condition - at letting Communication about repair (before work) Home improvementsHeating Day-to-day repairsContractor Property conditionInsulation Home improvementsNew kitchen, bathroom
Summary
The collective survey responses for waves 1 and 2, of which there were 172 for this question, reveal significant dissatisfaction amongst tenants regarding outstanding or forgotten repairs, accounting for a quarter of the comments received. Communication also appears to be a shared concern, with tenants feeling ignored or inadequately informed about the status of their repair requests, for example, “Have not completed my insulation repair and I have not had brick walls all winter. I was told 6-8 weeks and it has taken more than 7 months. More communication is needed”. A lack of follow-up on reported issues in some instances has led to a sense of being forgotten, with tenants feeling that their concerns are not taken seriously.
Safety and security are also highlighted, particularly regarding communal areas and entry systems that are not functioning properly. Tenants have expressed concerns about unauthorised access to their buildings and the increased propensity for anti-social behaviour due to what they perceive to be inadequate security measures.
Additionally, there are calls for better support for vulnerable tenants, including those with disabilities, who may require adaptations to their homes. The need for improved community engagement and social activities for elderly tenants has also been noted.
Overall, the feedback indicates a need for enhanced maintenance services, better communication generally, and especially around repairs, and a more responsive approach to tenants' concerns to improve living conditions and satisfaction levels.
Comments - Complaints
Customer services & contactComplaint not resolved
Day-to-day repairs - Timescales to complete repairs
Customer services & contactCare, empathy, support
Customer services & contactComplaints handling
Day-to-day repairs - Outstanding / forgotten repairs
Communications & informationAcknowledging complaints
Neighbourhood problems - Antisocial behaviour
Customer services & contactResolving problems
Customer services & contact -
Time taken to resolve enquiry
Home improvements - Heating system
Neighbourhood problemsNeighbours - noise, alcohol
Communications & information -
Act on views & give feedback
Summary
When asked to give the reasons for their dissatisfaction with the complaint handling service and their suggestions for improvement, in total 66 tenants provided comments. Whilst it is not clear whether comments relate to formal complaints, or to perceived service delay or failures, some tenants feel that complaints are not always resolved, with other tenants stating complaints are not acknowledged. As has been mentioned previously, this could relate to confusion around what constitutes a formal complaint, and how complaints should be made, or uncertainty around what to expect from the complaints process.
Communication issues are also prevalent, with several tenants expressing frustration that their concerns are dismissed or inadequately addressed, leading to a sense of neglect. The sentiment of being ignored is echoed by multiple respondents, with one stating "I was ignored for 5 years, had a small amount of work done which was sub par and now seem to be getting ignored again. I have made constant requests and complaints this included contacting councillors for my area”.
Additionally, there are complaints about anti-social behaviour from neighbours, with tenants feeling that Crawley Borough Council does not take these issues seriously. Some tenants say their complaints about noise and harassment were either ignored or inadequately resolved, leading to further distress.
The quality of service provided by contractors is another point of contention, with several tenants describing their experiences as unsatisfactory, referencing time taken and poor workmanship. For example, “I don't like the contractors Crawley borough use to carry out repairs and most recently a job that should of been completed within a week or two took over 3 weeks to complete with kitchen flooring having to be redone 3 times”.
In summary, the survey highlights several areas for improvement in not only complaint handling, but broader customer service and communication, as well as the efficiency of repairs, and a need for a more proactive approach to addressing anti-social behaviour.
Trends
The table shows the annual results for 2024/25 against those for 2023/24. Those in purple show where satisfaction has decreased.
It should be noted, however, that with an annual margin of error of around +3.9%, a change of more than 7.8 percentage points would be needed to be statistically significant, although any change can show a direction of travel; none of the changes are more than this.
Satisfaction with the overall service is down by 1p.p from 74% in 2023/24 to 73% in 2024/25 and seven of the remaining measures it is possible to compare have decreased in satisfaction, and four have stayed the same.
However, the changes are relatively small and tend to follow the general trend across the sector which has seen satisfaction fall slowly over the last few years.
The Council shouldn't be unduly worried about these changes as satisfaction remains good.
Year-on-Year Change
The table shows the annual results for 2024/25 against those for 2023/24. Those in green show where the results have increased and those in purple where they have decreased.
As previously mentioned, a change of more than 7.8 percentage points would be needed to be statistically significant, although any change can show a direction of travel; only the reduction in satisfaction with neighbourhood contribution has varied more than this, with a fall of 9p.p in wave 2.
Satisfaction with the overall service is down by 2p.p from wave 1 to wave 2, and seven of the remaining measures have decreased in satisfaction also. Two measures, being kept informed and being treated fairly and with respect increased in wave 2, each by 2p.p.
Again, these changes are relatively small and tend to follow the general trend across the sector over the last few years.
Wave Change 2024/25
Summary
Satisfaction with Measures
Repairs Last 12 Months
Conclusion
Crawley Borough Council is based in Sussex in south-east England and has 10,429 properties, which includes 8,141 LCRA properties. After completing a similar survey in 2023, Acuity has been commissioned to carry out surveys over two waves in 2024/25 to comply with the requirements of the Regulator of Social Housing, although for these, just the LCRA tenants are included. This report follows the completion of the second wave. The survey allowed tenants to respond either online or to a telephone interview, 171 were completed online and 157 by telephone.
Overall, the survey shows good levels of satisfaction with most of the services provided by Crawley Borough Council, with 73% of tenants satisfied with the overall service provided. The highest satisfaction is for the repairs service in the last 12 months at 75%, closely followed by time taken for repairs at 75%. Whilst these are both strong results, many of the comments in response to open-ended questions were around overdue or forgotten repairs and some issues with quality of repairs also, highlighting that there is always more to do.
As is often the case in surveys of this type, complaint handling is the lowest scoring measure at 35%, and comments around complaints mention feelings of being ignored or inadequate action being taken. As is the case across the sector, it is not clear whether these comments relate to formal complaints or to services not yet delivered, nevertheless with dissatisfaction with this measure at 48%, it is a clear area for focus.
The open-ended questions in the survey were included to give tenants the opportunity to expand on their reasons for dissatisfaction, and to suggest improvements. Aside from the issues already mentioned around the repairs service, some tenants reported damp and mould which should be prioritised for follow up. In addition, there were some concerns about the adequacy of response to some reports of ASB, and tenants also communicated a desire to be listen to more carefully by Crawley Borough Council.
In terms of satisfaction by the various demographic elements reported, perhaps not surprisingly, those in sheltered accommodation report higher satisfaction than general needs tenants, and satisfaction levels are higher on all but one measure (complaint handling) when responses are gathered by telephone interview rather than online, as is usually the case. Those tenants in bungalows report higher satisfaction across most measures than tenants of other property types, and satisfaction generally increases with age. When reviewing satisfaction by length of tenancy, the usual pattern is true for Crawley Borough Council in that satisfaction is higher for most measures in the early years of tenancies, with three measures scoring highest from tenants who have been in their homes the longest (20 years plus) As is usually the case, the male tenants who responded are more satisfied than the females, although it is difficult to say exactly why this is. Asian tenants reported the highest satisfaction, however, some ethnicities have low numbers of responses, so it is difficult to draw firm conclusions here.
Crawley Borough Council is based in Sussex and has over 10,000 properties including 8.141 LCRA properties. For 24/25 Acuity has been commissioned to undertake surveys in two waves, and this report focuses on combined results, giving the annual performance against the Tenant Satisfaction measures and other agree questions.
A survey of this type can not address or provide evidence of all of these aims but the level of satisfaction does suggest the Council is reasonably performing well.
That said, there are always areas that can be improved and the recommendations opposite give some suggestions that the Council may wish to follow up on.
Recommendations
Repairs and Maintenance
Once again, issues relating to the repairs service and in particular the time taken to complete repairs and dealing with outstanding repairs, are the most commonly given reasons for tenant dissatisfaction across the open question comments this year. Ongoing repairs and maintenance is a common reason for tenants to be in contact with their landlord, and as such is important in assessing their satisfaction overall. Rising costs and, sometimes a shortage of labour following the pandemic, have meant that these issues are seen across the social housing sector. However, it is important that improvements are made wherever possible, and that priority is given to cases where tenants’ health or safety is a risk – for example, where there are problems with damp and mould in the home, as has been indicated by several tenants this year. Improvements to communications about the progress of repairs in addition to good customer service and support when reporting repairs, and throughout the process, is likely to help manage tenants’ expectations and limit reasons for dissatisfaction.
Complaints Handling
As for the previous surveys, how complaints are handled is the lowest ranking measure for 2024/25. Around a quarter of tenants surveyed had made a complaint in the last year, although its not possible to say whether these were formal complaints, or situations where service delivery was delayed or yet to be completed at the time. Of those who said they reported a complaint, only 35% were satisfied with the service, and 48% were dissatisfied. Effective handling of complaints is important for all landlords, and tenants have said re concerned that complaints are not always acknowledged or resolved fully. As suggested in the wave 2 report, it may help for Crawley Borough Council to consider a simple, leaflet-style summary which explains the stages and timescales of its complaints process, which can be shared when complaints are acknowledged as well as being available for reference on the website.
Communication and Customer Contact
Good communication and customer care is important to tenant satisfaction across many service areas, and as such, improvements in these aspects have the potential to positively influence satisfaction in these areas. As well as the need for excellent communication around repairs and complaints, tenants’ have also mentioned the handling of ASB as an area where they feel the response is low or, at times, inadequate, and so this is an area for potential focus. To help improve satisfaction in this area, it may help to include a website section for ASB, including transparency around the actions Crawley Borough Council can and can’t take, and also explaining why it isn’t always possible to share details of all actions taken in ASB situations, due to the need for confidentiality. Also, when ASB is reported, it may help to agree and commit to a frequency of updates, some tenants are aware of when they will be contacted, even if there is little or nothing specific to share, as will help prevent feelings of being forgotten.
Annual Demographics
The Council has a number of sheltered properties and some of the responses came from these although relatively few in comparison with the general needs tenants; responses from sheltered accommodation tenants accounted for just 6% of the overall responses.
In terms of satisfaction Crawley Borough Council follows the pattern seen at many other landlords with the sheltered tenants mainly more satisfied than their general needs counterparts. In fact, they are more satisfied on all but four of the survey measures (and scoring equal to general needs tenants for listens and acts) and 11p.p more are satisfied with the overall service.
A later chart shows the effects of tenants' age and shows that satisfaction tends to increase with age. This is likely to be the case with the tenure as the sheltered accommodation, by definition, will be occupied by older people.
Tenure
This table compares satisfaction for surveys completed online (CAWI) with those gathered via telephone interview (CATI).
As is typical in the sector, tenants who complete the survey by telephone interview tend to report higher satisfaction than those who respond online, and this is true here for Crawley Borough Council. All measures score higher by telephone interview, with the exception of complaint handling which scores 2p.p higher for online respondents.
It can be suggested that this is due to the personal interaction involved by telephone. In contrast, online responses eliminate this personal element, which may lead to more candid answers, as there is no human presence to potentially influence the level of satisfaction expressed.
Methodology
The table opposite shows satisfaction by the different property types managed by Crawley Borough Council. Most live in houses or flats but it is those in bungalows who are the most satisfied. This is likely to be linked to the age factor as the bungalows will be occupied by older tenants who are likely to report higher levels of satisfaction generally.
Tenants in houses gave higher scores than those in flats for seven of the measures, with those in flats very slightly more satisfied with the overall service provision, with having a well maintained home and slightly more in agreement with the ambition statement. The scores for both repairs measures scored equally across both cohorts.
Property Type
Crawley
This table shows the results by length of tenancy. It is typical for tenants who have been with their landlord for a shorter period to report higher satisfaction, possibly because they may have waited a long time for an offer or have moved from substandard accommodation. Satisfaction tends to decline slightly over time as tenants begin to encounter issues with their homes. However, the longest-serving tenants, who are often the oldest, also report high levels of satisfaction.
For Crawley Borough Council, it is true that a drop in satisfaction levels is seen across most measures for those tenants who have held their tenancy for between six and ten years, and across some of the measure for those with tenancies between 11 and 20 years. For those with the longest tenancies, at over 20 years, satisfaction levels then climb again across most measures, with tenants with less than five years in their home also showing stronger satisfaction levels generally. This can be seen in the scores for overall satisfaction across each length of tenancy, as the highest scores are for those under one year and over 20 years,each with a score of 77%, and those between six and ten, and 11 and 20 years both scoring lowest at 68%.
Length of Tenancy
It is common to see satisfaction generally increase with the age of the tenants, and that does appear to be the case here with those aged 65 and over generally more satisfied than those under 65, and the least satisfied being in the 25 to 34 range.
Age has been shown to be a major factor in determining satisfaction, although it is not entirely clear why. It could be linked to the differing levels of expectations with older tenants more likely to put up with service and appreciate the efforts made, whilst younger tenants can often be more critical and expect more from the services they receive.
Age Group
Across the combined results for the year, 48% of the tenants who responded were female, and 20% male. A further 32% are unknown, preferred not to say, or perhaps do not identify as either male or female. We would not usually include “unknown” data in these charts; however, it remains here for these results as it account almost a third of all responses.
Male tenants are more satisfied with all the survey measures, with some of the variances greater than others.
Whilst this pattern is common, it is also not entirely clear why this is often the case.
Gender
Although the vast majority of tenants say they are White British, there are also some from a range of different ethnic backgrounds. However, many fall into the 'other' category and some are unknown.
In terms of satisfaction, the most satisfied with the overall service are the Asian tenants at 79%. Least satisfied are the Black group at 62%.
Given the small numbers responding from all but the White British and 'other' groups, make any firm conclusions is difficult. However, the full set of results is available on the dashboard so further analysis is available there.
Ethnicity
This research project was carried out to conform with ISO20252:2019 and the MRS Code of Conduct.
Acuity
Tel: 01273 287114
Email: acuity@arap.co.uk
Address: PO Box 395, Umberleigh, EX32 2HL
